The idea to make pesto from red cabbage came about while in line at the grocery store. The guy in front of me had red cabbage too; for tacos, he said.
Mine was for roasting with other vegetables, but I only needed half a head of cabbage.
Don’t you just hate it when a recipe calls for half of something but it’s sold as a whole or bunch?
So we stood waiting in line, brainstorming ideas for the leftover half – tacos, salsa, braised with apples…
I was going to go with salsa but my penchant for turning everything into pesto won over.
When I first thought of this red cabbage pesto, I imagined it a little bit coarser than it turned out – I may have over processed it, and the addition of almond butter made the paste smoother.
You can omit the almond butter, and a few pulses less in a food processor will leave in some of the crunch for a coarse, grainy pesto.
I still love the way this pesto turned out, it’s amazing – toss it with your favourite pasta, or use as a dip, sandwich spread, or as a ‘sauce’ for your flatbreads like I did with this onions and peppers flatbread.
[print_this]
Red Cabbage Pesto
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 head red cabbage, roughly chopped into big chunks
- 1 – 2 tablespoons almond butter
- 3 – 4 tablespoons sundried tomatoes
- 2 garlic cloves
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sumac (optional or a splash of lemon juice)
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
- Salt to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Using a food processor, pulse cabbage until finely chopped
- Add almond butter, sundried tomatoes and garlic, process to mix
- As the food processor runs, gradually add in the olive oil
- Add sumac, ginger, pepper and salt and process until well combined, make it as smooth or as coarse as you want it
- Use as you would regular pesto; pour a thin layer of olive oil over the surface and refrigerate or store in the freezer to keep longer
- Enjoy!
[/print_this]


9 Comments
Unconventional, yet innovative and it looks delicious! I’d love it tossed with pasta and ladled over a steak!
23 February, 2013 at 10:29 amIt’s wonderful with Pasta, and I’m pretty sure it’ll pair well with steak.
24 February, 2013 at 8:26 pmJust made this and has a unique taste. Can’t wait to fix it with the tomato, pepper and onion flatbread tomorrow !
4 April, 2013 at 6:46 pmAwesome! hope it’s yummy 🙂
5 April, 2013 at 9:56 am